"While at UVM, I gained a lot of knowledge about how to manage a herd, which is invaluable to me."

Weeks after graduating with her a B.S. in Animal Science, Mo Whitney started her new job as assistant herdsman and calf manager at Shelburne Farms. In this role, Mo spends her days managing a herd of Brown Swiss cows. While at UVM, she served as president of the UVM Dairy Club and was part of CREAM (Cooperative for Real Education in Agricultural Management) gaining knowledge and skills that she uses in her job every day. During her senior year, she spent a semester at the Miner Agricultural Research Institute in Chazy, New York gaining immersive experience in advanced dairy management.

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“During my time studying Community Entrepreneurship at UVM, I asked myself all the time: how can I make the greatest impact on society?”

About six months before graduating from UVM, Eric Grunfeld ‘19 launched his start-up company, Plugged In, whose mision is to put an end to distracted driving. Since then, he has been working on his technology, which hopes eventually to sell to automobile insurance companies to prevent distracted driving.

Pictured here, Grunfeld is getting advice from his mentor and fellow UVM alum Christine Landon, with whom he was matched with via the UVM Mentoring Network. The network taps into a network of industry experts and matches them with those in need.

"The capability to do research as a UVM undergrad is unparalleled in other programs."

Having graduated with a double major in molecular genetics and animal science, Victoria Primavera ’18 is now developing vaccines for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at Plum Island’s Animal Disease Center. She says the courses she took at UVM, as well as lab research, prepared her well for the challenging work she does today.

Primavera cites her experience in UVM professor Matt Wargo’s lab as the “single most beneficial thing I could have done in terms of understanding project development, troubleshooting, and how research works.”

“Food sciences are applicable to everything and give you options. I wouldn’t be here without the experiences I had at UVM.”

Alex Doty ’19 knew that he liked engineering and working with his hands when he came to UVM, but he didn’t know that he would end up as a nutrition and food sciences major.

Today, he’s a researcher at AeroFarms, the world’s largest aeroponic, pesticide- free vertical farm that supplies greens to supermarkets and restaurants around New York City. Doty credits his UVM academic courses, internships at Rhino Foods and Cabot Creamery, and research experience working in UVM plant biologist Jill Preston’s lab with helping him dive deeply into the field of food sciences and launch his career.

"UVM added fuel to my passion for agriculture and its undeniable impact on the community. While the classes gave me the science, my professors, peers, and mentors gave me the guidance to take my knowledge into the world and make a difference."

Shelby Doggett ’14 has a passion for agriculture and education. In 2017, she co-founded What Cheer Farm, a nonprofit cut-flower farm in Providence, Rhode Island in order to grow, rescue and give away flowers to underserved people, including in hospitals and hospices, at-risk youth, and people in recovery centers and shelters.

Her efforts earned her recognition as a “Rhode Islander of the Year” by Rhode Island Monthly.

"I wouldn't be where I am without the Plant Biology Department at UVM."

Owen Hudson ‘18, now a graduate student in plant pathology at the University of Georgia, says that his current research on fungicide resistance stems directly from the work he did as an undergraduate plant biology major at UVM. “I’m building off the foundation I got at UVM every day,” he says. “Often I am the only person in the department who is able to connect and draw further conclusions to other work or subjects based on the diverse background that I got in plant biology.”

"UVM gave me everything I need to become a doctor."

Niveditha Badrinarayanan ‘19 knew her path after shadowing a physician in high school. Research opportunities and UVM’s Larner College of Medicine, where she’s currently a medical student, drew her to UVM from Chennai, India. In her four years, the biochemistry major and pharmacology minor worked in a lab examining human mesothelioma; plus, she was a resident advisor, trained tutors at the Career Center, and volunteered in pediatrics, which earned her an award from the Mosaic Center for Students of Color.